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Putin has no plans to attend discussion on extra revenues of mining, chemical firms

There is no such meeting on the president's agenda, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said

BERLIN, August 19. /TASS/. The agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin does not include a meeting to discuss a presidential aide’s idea to withdraw excess revenues from Russia’s mining and chemical enterprises, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"There is no [such meeting on his agenda], the president cannot chair meetings on all issues currently being studied by the government," he said.

"There is an expert point of view [on the issue], and there is also the president’s consent to study the matter," he said, adding that the president will express his opinion of the initiative after the government studies it.

The idea to withdraw 513.7 bln rubles ($7.7 bln) worth of bumper revenues from Russia’s top mining, chemical and petrochemical companies was previously proposed by presidential aide Andrey Belousov in a letter to Vladimir Putin. The proposal relies on the fact that the tax rate in those industries is lower than that in the oil sector, while the profitability is higher. According to Belousov, the money can be spent on the implementation of the May presidential decree.

The list of companies include NLMK, Severstal, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, Mechel, Metalloinvest, Evraz, Norilsk Nickel, Alrosa, Polyus, Sibur, Uralkali, Phosagro and others.

This initiative will be discussed at the meeting of Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Anton Siluanov and representatives of major companies on August 24.

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